Title: MADRAS OBSERVATORY AND THE DISCOVERY OF C/1831 A1 (THE GREAT COMET OF 1831) Authors: R.C. Kapoor

In this paper we present excerpts from the records at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics Archives that show that T.G. Taylor, an astronomer at the Madras Observatory, was an independent discoverer of the Great Comet of 1831 (C/1831 A1) on 7.00972 January 1831 UT, although John Herapath who first observed the comet from Hounslow Heath (England) on January 7.25 is generally credited with the discovery. Taylor continued to observe the comet until 20 February 1831, and his observations were duly published by the Madras Observatory in 1832.